Customs and Beliefs

Certain customs and beliefs of the East Indians still still exist in Trinidad and these include the reading of the scriptures, the holy plant Tulsie, Indian names and the way in which one gets married and blesses a baby. The reading of the scriptures still exists in our temples as men, women and children gather to hear and get the blessings of their lord, the same way in which the labourers gathered with the Brahmins to listen to the word of God.

In every Hindu home a Tulsie plant still exist and Hindus still worship this holy plant as it is believed that it is the plant of the lord. Hindu names are still present in our society today and some of the more popular ones include, Ramesh, Suenarine, Harrinarine, Ravi, Bissondath, Deodath and Ramnaresh to name a few. However, these names are heard among the older folks and parents in today’s time move away from naming children such long names and choose the shorter route while still keeping the Indian name tradition alive. These include Reshma, Reshmi, Sapna, Avinash, Nalini, Rohan and Roshan to name a few.

Hindu weddings still exist today with the usually three day lavish ceremony where the bride is adorned with beautiful clothing, accessories and she decorates herself in beautiful mehendi design. All these attributes where used in society during the days of the indentured and the only difference is that Hindu weddings are now accepted in society, it is celebrated in a bold fashion and some of today’s bride added the white dress trend instead of the white sari trend at the end of the ceremony which is considered Western style. The blessing of the newborn baby still occurs as Indian women still have the Chathy ceremony still occurs with very little celebration with the just close female family and friends, the same way it was conducted during indentureship.